If you want to buy an inexpensive, printable PDF of this free crochet sloth pattern, you can get it HERE in my Etsy shop!
I think that my best crochet designs have come about when I was making a gift for someone else! And this one is a perfect example of that. It was my soon-to-be-niece’s birthday, and I wanted to do something for her. I knew she had a stuffed animal sloth collection, so I figured I’d add to it. And now it’s one of my favorite crochet patterns!
It is a bit of a long one, with lots of pictures, so I’ve had to divide it up into two blog posts here. This one, part 1, details how to crochet the head, sew on the felt, and crochet the body. Part 2 (found HERE) details how to crochet the arms and legs, how to sew them on, and how to add the stitched on claws.
NOTE: If you are wanting to sell finished products you’re welcome to, just make sure you link back to my pattern here and credit me with the design. Thank you!
Abbreviations
- Sc – single crochet
- Inc – increase
- Dec – decrease
- sl st – slip stitch
- FO – Finish off
- Rnd – round
- sts – stitches
Materials
- An F (3.75 mm) or E (3.5 mm) crochet hook (it’s such a slight difference either will work)
- Red Heart Super Saver Yarn in Cafe
- About 3-4 feet of a cream-colored yarn
- Stuffing (I use polyester fiberfill)
- Dark brown felt
- Cream colored felt
- Dark brown embroidery floss (to match the felt)
- Cream colored embroidery floss (to match the felt)
- A pair of 12mm safety eyes
- Tapestry/yarn needle
- Embroidery/sewing needle
- 2 sewing pins (technically optional, but helps later with the eye placement)
- Scissors
- Black/brown marker
- Template for the felt on the sloth’s face ***here***
Head
Start with the Cafe yarn
Rnd 1: 6 sc in a Magic Ring (6)
Rnd 2: *inc* 6 times (12)
Rnd 3: *sc, inc* 6 times (18)
Rnd 4: *sc(2), inc* 6 times (24)
Rnd 5: *sc(3), inc* 6 times (30)
Rnd 6: *sc(4), inc* 6 times (36)
Rnd 7: *sc(5), inc* 6 times (42)
Rnd 8: *sc(6), inc* 6 times (48)
Rnds 9 – 20: sc 48 in each rnd
Rnd 21: *sc(6), dec* 6 times (42)
Rnd 22: *sc(5), dec* 6 times (36)
At this point you’ll need your felt, the templates, scissors, safety eyes, and marker.
First cut out the felt pieces according to the template.
On each template piece you’ll see little black dots. These dots mark where you’re going to cut holes for the safety eyes to go through. To mark your felt accurately, poke a hole in the paper templates in each spot where you see a dot. Place the template back over the felt and use the marker to place a dot on your felt where the hole is on the template. Your dots should end up looking like they do in the photo above.
Cut a cross on each of these dots on your felt. Fold the felt in half so you can make a small cut, then fold it in half the other way to make the second cut. This will create a little cross cut in your felt where your safety eyes can poke through.
Stack the dark brown felt on top of the beige so the dots line up and poke the safety eyes through the felt.
Now go back to your crochet head. Turn it so you’ve got the string of yarn in the back and the open end facing down.
Next you’ll poke the safety eyes that are already in the felt into the head between rounds 16 and 17, 10 stitches apart.
(A little tip: To make sure mine were centered and in the correct place I used the sewing pins to mark the holes to poke into, removing them right before placing the safety eyes into the head.)
Check the position of the dark brown pieces of felt to make sure they are symmetrical (as you can see, mine weren’t…whoops). Once you’re satisfied, place the backs onto the safety eyes. Then continue crocheting the head closed.
Rnd 23: *sc(4), dec* 6 times (30)
Rnd 24: *sc(3), dec* 6 times (24)
Begin stuffing the head.
Rnd 25: *sc(2), dec* 6 times (18)
Rnd 26: *sc, dec* 6 times (12)
Add any more stuffing needed to be sure the head is well-rounded and full.
Rnd 27: *dec* 6 times (6)
Sl st, FO leaving a 6 inch tail. Use this tail to close up the bottom and weave in the end.
Sewing the Felt Face Down
You’ll start by using the embroidery floss to stitch the felt pieces down on the face.
First cut a 28 inch long piece of the beige embroidery floss. Separate off 3 strands of it. Thread this into an embroidery needle to sew the face down into the sloth’s head.
Start at the bottom of the head. Poke the needle in a few rounds below the felt and come up about ⅛ of an inch into the edge of the felt.
Pull until you have a 2 inch tail left coming out of the head.
Poke into the head just below where you came up in the felt, and have the needle come up about ¼ of an inch to right about ⅛ of an inch into the edge of the felt.
Pull the floss tight. You’ll now see that you’ve created a stitch straight down on the felt and are back where you started. Repeat this process around the face.
When you get to a spot with the dark brown felt over the top, simply lift it up and continue stitching underneath.
When you’re back to the beginning, poke down into the head with your needle right next to the felt, poking back out of the head over two stitches to the right of the tail you left at the beginning. (See picture below.)
Poke the needle through the two stitches in between the embroidery floss tails so that they come up in the same hole. Tie a knot and weave the ends into the head.
Repeat this same process around the dark brown eye felt pieces using the dark brown embroidery floss. You’ll want to cut the floss to be about 14 inches long and use 3 strands when you’re sewing the eye piece down.
And your sloth’s head is done! (We’ll embroider on the face details at the very end.)
Body
Start with the Cafe yarn
Rnd 1: sc 7 in a MR
Rnd 2: *inc* 7 times (14)
Rnd 3: *inc, sc 2, inc 2, sc 2* 2 times (20)
Rnd 4: *inc, sc 4, inc 2, sc 3* 2 times (26)
Rnd 5: *sc 2, inc, sc 4, inc 2, sc 4* 2 times (32)
Rnds 6 – 10: sc 32 in each rnd
Rnd 11: *sc 8, dec 2, sc 4* 2 times (28)
Rnds 12 – 13: sc 28 in each rnd
Rnd 14: *sc 7, dec 2, sc 3* 2 times (24)
Rnds 15 – 16: sc 24 in each rnd
Rnd 17: *sc 6, dec 2, sc 2* 2 times (20)
Rnd 18: sc 20
Then sc 2 more times. (This brings you to a better spot to finish off.)
Sl st and FO, leaving an 8 inch tail to sew it onto the head.
Stuff it with the polyester fiberfill.
The body will have an oval shape to it, so that when you look at the front of the body it appears flat and wide, and the side of the body appears thin and more rounded. The longer side of the top of the body that has the tail coming off of it is the “back side” of the body. Make sure that you line it up so that the back side of the body points away from the face. Center the top of the body on the bottom of the head.
Sew the body onto the head using the yarn needle. To make the stitches look smooth, put the needle through a stitch on the head, then through the next stitch on the top of the body and pull tight. I’ve found this is the best way to sew body parts onto stuffed animals and get a nice, clean join. (See the pictures below if the explanation is unclear.)
And you’re halfway done!
Since this pattern is long and very photo-heavy, I’ve broken it up into two separate blog posts. Click HERE to continue the pattern and learn how to make the arms, legs, and claw stitching.
